Investigators Describe How Scheme Operated

Philip Wilson knew the lingo of finance. More importantly, Wilson knew how to twist the lingo, how to talk and sound like he was worth much more than he really was.

In one of the biggest schemes perpetrated by Wilson`s International Investment Trust, investigators say, the con artist phrased things so ingeniously that he ended up owning 51 percent of a New Orleans shipping company and receiving $122,500 from a Luxembourg bank.

Here`s what happened, police say:

The shipping company, Namsco, wanted to buy a tanker but did not have enough collateral to qualify for a loan. Then Namsco found a firm controlled by Wilson that promised, for a price, to help the shipping company get a loan.

The idea, as explained in a January 1988 contract, was that Wilson`s company -- Plato Investments, supposedly based in Plantation -- would provide the collateral Namsco needed to get the loan. In exchange, Plato acquired half the stock of Namsco and received a one-time fee of $30,000.

It was what might be called a cash-for-trash deal.

Namsco and its president, Robert Munger, apparently did not know the collateral Plato provided was worthless paper -- so-called ``certificates of beneficial interest`` in the International Investment Trust. The trust was phony, too.

Nor did Plato help Namsco find a lender.

Namsco found the bank, Christiana Bank in Luxembourg. So the Louisiana firm told Plato president Jeffrey Parrish it wanted its $30,000 back.

However, Namsco still needed Plato`s ``collateral`` -- the worthless IIT certificates -- for the loan.

Parrish had Namsco over a barrel. So in April 1988, Parrish gave back $15,000 to Namsco as a ``good faith gesture,`` according to an account of the deal provided by Broward Sheriff`s Office investigators.

Plato got the money back from Namsco by charging $15,000 for an audit of the New Orleans firm by Booker Camper, a certified public accountant in Memphis who did all the accounting work for Wilson`s companies. With Camper`s audit and Plato`s phony certificates, Namsco appeared to have $3.2 million in collateral.

In May 1988, Christiana Bank agreed to lend Namsco $3 million for the purchase of a tanker -- the Aurita -- and a down payment on a cargo vessel.

The bank wised up only after it had disbursed about $750,000 of the loan money -- $450,000 to a mortgage on the Aurita and $308,750 to Plato.

Plato, as half owner of Namsco, kept $122,500 and the shipping company got $186,250. Namsco officials eventually asked for all the money advanced to Plato, but Wilson and his people refused.

In April 1989, almost a year after financing the loan, Christiana Bank discovered that Plato`s ``certificates`` were worthless. Christiana repossessed the tanker Aurita in Rotterdam, Holland.

``The bank figures they`re out $500,000 on the loan, if they can sell the ship,`` said Detective Muriel Waldmann with the Broward Sheriff`s Office.

Waldmann said Christiana officials are reluctant to file suit to recover the remaining money because of publicity. Like many banks in Luxembourg, Christiana prides itself on maintaining secrecy for foreign investors, she said.

None of the Namsco officials could be located for comment. The company has gone out of business.